World News: 13-year-old steals car from US dealership; Brazilian engineers in Benny Hill-style blunder; Car salesman wanted for hiring hitman
Car Dealer likes to stay on top of the news here in the UK – but sometimes there are stories from other parts of the world that we reckon our readers shouldn’t miss.
That is why last year we began publishing a monthly round-up of some of the most interesting – and bizarre – stories from every corner of the globe.
In 2022 we brought you tales of mass shootings, sinkholes and even witchcraft so here is what the first month of 2023 has had to offer…
13-year-old boy leads police in high speed chase after car dealership theft
- Illinois, USA
A 13-year-old boy was arrested in Elhurst, Illinois after stealing a car from a local dealership, sparking a high speed chase.
The youngster stole the 2020 Kia Forte from Wilkins Hyundai with officers called after the vehicle was spotted parked nearby in the early hours.
When they arrived at the scene, the teenager sped away, forcing police to give chase, although the pursuit was soon abandoned on safety grounds.
They eventually tracked the car, and its driver, down a few hours later and he was charged with possessing a stolen motor vehicle, possessing burglary tools, criminal damage to property and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.
(Source: ABC Chicago)
Brazilian mechanics go viral with Benny Hill-style disasterclass
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
A Brazilian mechanic has gone viral after security footage showed his son-in-law twice dropping a heavy metal bar on his at work.
Luiz Carlos Niegesk, 64, was left in a rage when his daughter’s husband, André Luiz, failed to secure a bar used to hold a door open.
CCTV footage shows André twice attempting to lodge the metal bar in place only for it to fall on Luiz on both occasions.
The first time the pole crashes into his foot before landing on his head when it fell a second time.
The slapstick moment was posted online and has since been viewed over six million times. Watch the footage for yourself here:
(Source: New York Post)
Gunman charged with shooting vehicle at used car dealership
- Missouri, USA
A 28-year-old man has been arrested for opening fire on a vehicle which was for sale at a used car dealership in Missouri.
Daniel Hill was caught on security footage pulling up outside Leadbelt Auto Sales before going inside and firing eight rounds into the front of a Chevrolet Trax.
He then returned to his own car to collect a knife, which he used to slash the SUV’s tyres.
The footage was sent to police who have now charged Hill with the unlawful use of a weapon, first-degree property damage and two counts of second-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.
His bond has been set at $50,000.
(Source: Daily Journal Online)
Ground-breaking facial reconstruction technology solves cold-case murder of car salesman
- Vigo, Spain
The mysterious disappearance of a Portuguese car salesman has been solved after several years after police deployed ground-breaking facial reconstruction technology.
Carlos Alberto Videira do Órfão vanished from Vigo in Spain around five years ago with police completely at a loss as to what may have happened to him.
However, after finding an unknown body, experts were able to use the latest technology to recreate what the victim would have looked like in life.
They released the image on a poster and the victim’s sister was able to come forward and identify the car dealer.
Three men now stand accused his kidnap and murder and are awaiting trial.
(Source: Portugal Resident)
Car salesman goes on the run after murder-for-hire killing of girlfriend
- Georgia, USA
A used cars salesman has gone on the run after being accused of hiring a hitman to kill his ex-girlfriend after they broke up.
Stoney Williams, 41, is accused of murder-for-hire in relation to the death of Courtney Owens, 34, with whom he owned Royal Court Motors near Atlanta.
Owens was killed at the site in December, when a masked man approached the showroom and shot her before fleeing.
The gunman was later identified has Wesley Vickers but further investigation revealed Williams arranged to have Owens killed.
Police have so far been unable to track him down and say he remains on the run.
(Source: 11Alive)
Dealership boss investigated for sexual assault on female employee
- Pune, India
The boss of an Indian car dealership has been investigated after an employee made allegations of sexual harassment against him.
The 37-year-old woman says she was ‘ physically, mentally and financially harassed’ by her boss at the aN auto dealership in Shivajinagar, Pune.
In her complaint she also said that the boss, and three others sexually assaulted her, between December 2021 and July 2022.
The complaint was logged by local police who have produced a first information report on the matter.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
Car dealer who conned customers given two-and-a-half-year jail term
- Wisconsin, USA
A former dealership owner has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after he admitted to defrauding both buyers and sellers at his businesses.
John Solberg, 40, made more than $250,000 via a scamming campaign that saw him offer to sell cars on consignment for people who had listed them for sale on Craigslist.
Solberg would then fail to pay the owners and give buyers fake vehicle titles to cover his tracks.
He was later charged with 15 counts of fraud but agreed a plea deal which saw 14 of them dismissed.
Earlier this year he admitted to one count of fraud and was sent to prison for 30 months. He must also pay around $290,000 in restitution to this victims.
How car thieves are making a profit without actually stealing a vehicle
Jon WoodwardOpens in new window
Car thieves carried out a successful heist at an Ontario car dealership in September of 2020, making off with what they needed despite leaving a luxury vehicle sitting in the showroom.
That’s because the target was never the black Mercedes G Squared SUV, but its unique vehicle identification number (VIN), according to the Oakville-based dealer, Doug, who was wary of using his last name in an interview with CTV News.
He said he found out when trying to transfer the vehicle into a customer’s name at a Service Ontario, only to find out that the thieves had already assumed ownership of the car—at least on paper.
“We go there to put in a transfer,” Doug said. “They say, ‘Sorry, this car doesn’t belong to you.’ Meanwhile, it’s been sitting in our showroom for quite a while.”
Documents showed the car had been transferred to another company in 2020—documents that were obviously forged, Doug said.
“There’s 35,000 kilometres on it, which for sure is not our car, because our car had no kilometres on it,” he said.
Doug believes at some point thieves entered the showroom just to write down the car’s VIN, so they could use it to register a similar car that had been stolen.
“They took our car’s serial number, and put it on a stolen car,” he said.
Each car has its own 17 digit VIN, which can usually be found behind the windshield on the driver’s side of the vehicle. It’s used as a way to track the history of that specific car.
But, fraudsters can apply a legitimate car’s VIN to a stolen car in an attempt to disguise it and sell it in a process called re-vinning.
While that means a sale can go through, it usually causes headaches for the buyer and the owner of the vehicle.
New tools aim to help victims of VIN fraud
Complaints of re-vinning are on the rise, according to Carfax, a company that sells vehicle history reports.
“It’s definitely a scenario where one VIN is living two lives,” Carfax president Shawn Vording told CTV News.
He said in some cases, innocent consumers have had their VIN used as a donor to register a stolen vehicle, which is often exported, though sometimes continues to be driven around the country.
The company has estimated that there are more than 140,000 potentially cloned VINs driving Canadian streets, many of them likely stolen cars that have been sold, with the profits often going to organized criminals.
Carfax has launched new monitoring tools that can alert a customer if there is any activity on their VIN, and if the customer doesn’t recognize it, they can investigate.
Vording says he hopes that the tool can detect any potential VIN fraud early, before any sales or transfers are disrupted.
Carfax is also putting export data from the Canada Border Services Agency into its reports to watch for cars that have been disguised and then exported, while the donor VIN remains in the country.
“VIN fraud costs consumers a lot of money. We’re hoping we can make a difference by mitigating the amount of fraud that happens. And if we can do something as a business to help defund organized crime, that’s good for society overall,” Vording said.
The provincial government has tightened up the system to register a car in the wake of a wave of an increase in car theft that has swept the nation. Around 69,000 cars were stolen across Canada in 2024, leading to more than a billion dollars in insurance losses.
Police also laid several charges against Service Ontario workers earlier this year. One worker, Tonisha Baird, was convicted for trafficking in stolen vehicles, including one she was arrested while driving.
But critics worry that despite recent changes, there aren’t enough barriers to prevent thieves from using the province’s car registration system to their advantage.
“It shouldn’t be so easy for people to be able to steal a car, get it registered, and supposedly legitimized and then get it sold on our streets,” said NDP MPP Jennifer French.
Documents involved in the transfer of the Mercedes G Squared from Doug’s dealership led to a company whose director was initially charged in a shooting in Yorkville in 2016.
Those charges were dropped, and in response to a subsequent lawsuit, Toronto Police Service admitted in legal filings there were problems in the investigation.
CTV News tried the man at several different addresses, but couldn’t reach him. His lawyer wasn’t available for comment.
The forgeries were obvious enough that Doug doubts that the Service Ontario employee made a mistake.
“You’ll never stop this if they have someone crooked working in the license bureau, and that’s what they’ve been combatting,” he said.
With the help of Toronto police, an inspection of the G Squared SUV showed that it was the true vehicle that was tied to the VIN in question, and the transfer to the customer eventually went through.
